PHOTOS: Food crisis forces families into makeshift camps in Niger

As the drought and food crisis continue to worsen across Niger and West Africa, many families are fleeing from villages to larger cities to find work so that they can afford food. When they arrive, their only accommodations are makeshift camps. World Vision's Adel Sarkozi captured images from one such camp in Niamey, the capital city of Niger, where children are exposed to unsanitary conditions and disease.

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Women are stirring soups with indeterminate ingredients in burnt pots outside their tents. "All I took with me when I left is this big pot for cooking, and my five children and grandson," says Zeinabou.

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Children of all ages are hit hardest. They wander amid the scattered tents, their bare feet walking on a ground covered with litter, their eyes red from what seems like conjunctivitis, or "pink-eye."

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This image shows the makeshift conditions in which young children are forced to live because of the escalating food crisis.

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For restroom needs, households are forced to make use of an area amid the tents fenced by poles covered in plastic, or simply go in the surrounding shrub land, because there are no sanitation facilities.

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Four siblings sit in an open tent at the camp that provides almost no shelter from the harsh sun, wind, or heat.

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While Souleymane's daughter, Fatima (above), plays imaginary cooking games at the camp, his wife is in town, trying to earn a few pennies by offering her services in the kitchens of those better off than her. Some days, she finds work washing dishes or cleaning. Other days, she must resort to begging.

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This makeshift camp is on the east bank of the Niger River in Niamey, the capital city of Niger. The 150 tents, which are now home to 78 families, come in many shapes and forms, pieced together from cardboard, plastic, and fabric.

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A child rests in the shade of a tent at the makeshift camp in Niamey.

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Zeinabou holds her 3-month-old grandson, Amadou, at the camp. Amadou's mom goes out to work all day to bring home money so the family can eat.

You can also sponsor a child in Niger. Your ongoing love and support for a boy or girl in need will help provide stability for the present -- including interventions to cope with disasters, like the current drought and food crisis -- and hope for the future.